The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to the field of antenna systems. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to the field of antenna arrays including but not limited to, phased array antenna systems or electronically scanned array (ESA) antenna systems, such as an active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna systems.
Antenna arrays are utilized with transceivers. As used in this application, the term transceiver refers to an electronic device embodied as a transmitter, a receiver or a transmitter/receiver. The antenna array can be electronically steered by using variable phase shifters or time delay units coupled to respective antenna elements in the antenna array to direct the antenna at a pointing angle. The antenna array is coupled to the transceiver through an interface that includes the phase shifters or time delay units as well as components, such as, apertures, power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, transmit/receive switches, temperature sensing equipment, combiners, connectors, printed circuit board (PCB), printed wiring board (PWB), etc.
Antenna systems may exhibit thermal management challenges. Further, antenna systems may become damaged, for example due to poor thermal conduction paths and other thermal management issues. Furthermore, antenna systems may suffer from subassembly testing, troubleshooting, and field service challenges because, for example, it can be difficult to isolate and connect to subarrays and other components without causing damage.